Game Theory – Moral Dilemmas: Playing Evil

The RPG Blog Carnival for October 2009 is Morality: In-Game and Real Life.  I have taken the easy way out, discussing playing evil characters.

First, my (simple) definition of evil: To desire the ends is to desire the means.

In other words, evil is a willingness to do whatever is needed to achieve your goals.  Remembering the maxim that everyone is the hero in their own story, evil character may have noble goals but the costs they are willing to pay will make them be viewed by most as anything but a hero.